HOW TO: stop unwelcome and nuisance phone calls

Nuisance and prank calls can be a serious annoyance if they continue over a long period. We know that these calls can sometimes be quite distressing, so we’ve set up a dedicated Unwelcome Calls team to help you stop the calls in these situations.

Hang up calls

These are calls where you hear the caller put the receiver down, followed by the busy tone, as soon as you answer the call.

Silence, hoax, obscene or abusive calls

These are calls where the caller holds the line open with silence or speaks in an abusive or obscene manner and does not hang up.

To clear the line on your fixed phone service, replace the receiver and do not pick it up for 5 minutes. This will enable you to call out.

Malicious or life threatening calls

Of course, if you’ve received a malicious call threatening your life, you should immediately contact the police by calling 000.

They’re trained to help with everything from basic advice and practical steps on how to stop calls, to liaising with the police to trace calls when necessary. You can request a callback from our Unwelcome Calls team by completing our online form, or by calling 13 2200 and saying “unwelcome calls”.

If you’re receiving unwanted telemarketing calls, you might also be interested in joining the Do Not Call Register. This is a service run by the Government and will add your mobile or home phone number to a blacklist, meaning that you won’t receive unsolicited marketing calls. It only takes a few minutes to join the Do Not Call Register online.

Why would they have to moderate any of my comments? I haven`t said anything they need to delete or tone down, no-one has been defamed . Waiting, waiting , waiting. What happened to freedom of speech? France will tell you! Nothing! What about Australia?

Hi David — comments are moderated to ensure no abuse towards ourselves or other community members, as per our community guidelines. But rest assured, as long as they’re not abusive, we publish most of the comments as we believe in an open and honest environment.

Every day for the past week I have received phone calls purporting to advise that I will receive a reduction in my Telstra bill. These calls probably originate in India or Pakistan, judging by the accents. I know it’s a scam so hang up. If I don’t answer, they keep calling anyway. Is there any way I can stop these calls?

Angela, the 1 or 2 second delay after you pcik the phone up is the overseas call give away. I wait until they are about to speak and say “the delay gives you away every time” and they hang up on me.
Doesn’t stop the calls but it makes me feel better.

seems impossible to Stop, not fair when its my Mother at 93 getting out of her chair for nothing. Im not surprised that I was told disconnecting and having a mobile was the only real lternative. I am suprised however at the callers continueing with this, as its so balantantly unpopular, how could there be any success for them, wouldnt you think it was time to think outside the square ? and I agree with David McAuley. loosen up a bit

We have released a solution at the end of last year that might be able to help you out. It’s called Call Guardian and it allows you to filter incoming calls and decide whether to accept or reject them and blocks up to 1,000 numbers while your saved contacts get straight through. We’ll hopefully have information on Telstra Exchange in the next few weeks, but in the meantime you can find out more through our website.

Hi Andrew, we’ve just released the Telstra Call Guardian, which allows you to screen calls using the handset. More information will be coming soon to Telstra Exchange, but you can read about it on our website in the meantime. Thanks, Jamie.

“Call Guardian” to filter all those unwanted calls and only let your call list get through… how convenient, yay…but wait… at a COST!!! This is something that Telstra should be doing for it’s customers free of charge without the need for extra stuff that the customer has to pay for. We pay for everything….including our right to privacy from telemarketers! The only way anyone can get our new number is if we tell them what that number is…but…wait…oh no… here come the spamming and telemarketing calls… now how on earth did they get our brand new (not even a couple days old) number?? hmmm?? what a mystery that is!!! So, here we now have a ‘solution’ to a problem that we shouldn’t even have!! Something yet again we need to pay for… like caller ID… that should be free…but no…we pay 6.00 per month to see if it’s a recognised number or an overseas or ‘private’ caller… we pay pay pay to not be harrassed?! I now do not answer any calls on my landline or my mobile that is marked ‘private’… I figure if it’s important enough, they’ll leave a voicemail… telemarketers don’t leave voicemail (yay)… 21st century Telstra…get with it… the customer pays the company for a service now go ahead and provide it without the strings!

Exactly right Chickie. We are on the DO NOT CALL register, which makes no difference whatsoever. But for a mere $72/year, we can miraculously make it stop with a new Telstra phone? Come on, Telstra, seriously?!

Yeah, I’m just about over these fellows calling on my landline from wherever. We are getting about 10 calls a day. After trying various tactics I’ve now got a whistle by my phone for whenever I get one of these calls. As an earlier poster said “it doesn’t stop the calls, but it sure makes me feel better”.

This situation is a joke though, surely there is a simple to implement solution out there.

Hi Varis, There’s actually a simple solution you might be interested in: Telstra Call Guardian phone. It allows you to screen calls and block number More information will be coming soon to Telstra Exchange, but you can read about it on our website in the meantime. Thanks, Jamie.

I’m sure I have responded to a scam from “intelecom” offering 20% off phone and internet. I rang today to reject the offer…”cooling off period”..but not at that phone number. Surprise surprise. They have a Melbourne address.

Hi Richard, If you feel you’ve been scammed, please contact your financial institution immediately! You can also report it to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) via their SCAMwatch website. Or, you can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit their website.

I have a Uniden home phone which allows blocking of calls based on number, private, overseas or unknown.
When writing to anyone I advise that calls to my landline will not be answered unless a caller ID is sent.
Works wonders!
Great for blocking Telstra’s contracted call centres, especially 0862284014, who call daily even though they have been reported to ACMA.

how can i stop a [unknown] caller to stop harassing me , i have about 30 recent/missed calls in the last two weeks. have been to the local Telstra office, they cant help and also went to the police they also cant help.

Wow…and I thought I was alone here…just changed phone numbers due to moving into a new area..and have been constantly harassed by the 0839xxxx number.,.i have blocked/did the old “hang on a minute” and then walked away for 10 minutes…only to have another call and they then hang up!! /reported nuisance calls/went on to the do not call register..threaten to call the Federal Police!/ ! I also have an 84 year old elderly mother who is getting stressed out everytime the phone rings…I am totally over it..and yes, why the hell should I have to pay for this inconvenience! Totally not fair considering the amount of money I pay Telstra per year!

I am absolutely fed up with getting up to five calls a day from just one number. There are others. If not just the annoyance, it is helping to flatten my phone battery so that it doesn’t last through the day.

Getting on the do not call register does nothing. Not being listed doesn’t stop them.

My problem appears to be common. WHO IS OVERSEEING THIS SYSTEM? These callers need to be prosecuted for disturbing the peace etc etc. It seems Telstra has to take responsibility. In which case Telstra is a lame duck.

I have received 23, yes, 23 calls from 07 3606 8000 (i am in Vic) in the past 2 weeks.
I have answered the phone and when I ask where these people are calling from they hang up.
They call back, leave no message and when I call back the number rings for some time then an automated message is heard ‘we are calling on behalf of charities’ and that its an unattended line.
I have asked them nicely to stop calling me many times -- they hang up.
I asked rudely -- they hung up.
I asked what the call was about -- they hung up.

I had 10 calls from 0386835984 & 0383546901 between 4 & 8pm yesterday saying they were telstra offering my bundle for $80!! They even went to trouble of giving me an ID# I thought I’d play along on the 3rd call until they asked me to give license ad proof of my ID. Then I hung up.
Later I answered & said--
“can you hold on a sec, I have to get my wife out of the oven”. Their response…. “oh, ok Ill wait”…………

one more person being driven nuts with these unwanted phone calls -- mine are mostly from 038644 8152. had five within three hours today. I’ve got to the point where I always let the answering machine take the call and they invariably hang up upon the end of my recorded message, I think that’s about all you can do about them. surely Telstra can link their number to a subscriber and take some action to make them stop.